Audio/video (A/V) monitoring systems are commonly used in both public and private environments for monitoring areas of interest in those environments for security and/or other purposes. Such systems typically include one or more video cameras with attached or separate microphones that capture audio/video feeds of the monitored areas and store the captured footage on a connected recording device (e.g., a local or remote computing device/system). The captured footage may also be sent in real-time to a display device for viewing by an interested party (e.g., a homeowner, security guard, law enforcement officer, etc.).
From a security perspective, an A/V monitoring system is most effective when it is “always-on” (i.e., capturing audio and video of an area of interest on a continuous and ongoing basis). This is because an always-on system can capture all attempted intrusions, thefts, or other security-related events within the vicinity of the monitored area regardless of when those events may occur. However, as may be appreciated, always-on A/V monitoring can raise privacy concerns when used in a private setting such as a home. For example, assume that a homeowner has an always-on A/V monitoring system installed in his/her house for security purposes, with a camera and microphone that are configured to constantly capture all activity within the homeowner's living room. In this scenario, the homeowner may feel uncomfortable about being “watched” and “listened to” on a continuous basis as the homeowner and his/her family interact in the living room. In addition, the homeowner may have concerns about who may get ahold of the recorded audio/video footage and what it may potentially be used for. This is particularly true if the A/V monitoring system is operated by a third-party service provider and the recorded footage is sent to a remote server operated by the service provider.
One way to mitigate these privacy concerns is to configure the A/V monitoring system such that all recorded audio/video footage is stored “on-premise”—in other words, stored locally on one or more recording devices that are physically located at the homeowner's home and are controlled by the homeowner, rather than being transmitted to a remote/cloud-based server. But, even with this type of configuration, it is possible for a malicious party to hack or steal the on-premise device(s) and thereby gain unauthorized access to the footage.
Another solution is to allow the homeowner to disable and enable the A/V monitoring system at-will, which effectively changes the nature of the system from “always-on” to “on-demand.” Unfortunately, this approach reduces the effectiveness of the system since the homeowner cannot be sure of when a security beach or emergency situation may occur. Further, this approach is cumbersome because it requires the homeowner to manually interact with the monitoring system each time he/she wishes to turn on or turn off the system's cameras and microphones.